ROUNDABOUT
REVOLUTION
ENGINEERS CAN NOW USE THE NEWEST VERSION OF TRANSOFT SOLUTIONS’ SPECIALISED ROUNDABOUT SOFTWARE TORUS 6.0 TO ANALYSE AND DESIGN NONCIRCULAR ROUNDABOUTS AS WELL AS GENERATE 3D ROUNDABOUT DESIGNS AT THE CLICK OF A BUTTON.
TORUS generates initial roundabout geometry honouring reference criteria.
S
ome unique road designs in Australia have roundabout features that are adapted to improve traffic flow. There are dumbbell interchanges, made up of two roundabouts to clearly direct traffic. One is on the Pacific Motorway at Brunswick Heads in NSW and the other is on the Princes Highway near Pakenham in Melbourne. The Mitchell Freeway, just before the Murray River Bridge, even features a roundabout type interchange called a cloverleaf, a two-level interchange with left turns typically on ramps to ease congestion and increase safety. To enable road designers and constructors to plan these types of unique interchanges and intersections, Transoft Solutions has
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ROADS APRIL 2020
updated its software for roundabout design, TORUS, to include non-circular roundabouts. This is just one of many new features with the release of TORUS 6.0. TORUS was first launched in 2009 with the basic function to improve the process of designing a roundabout. Since then, the software has consistently evolved. When it was first developed, there were no products for balancing safety, performance and geometrics despite the increased interest in roundabout projects. Daniel Shihundu, Transoft’s Senior Vice President of Civil and Transportation and a professional engineer with 20 years’ experience, says roundabout design features several competing factors that need to be assessed at the same time.
“You are looking at safety components, performance aspects and the cost [determined by the roundabout size and effect on right-of-way] simultaneously when designing a roundabout, and this is generally a very iterative process,” Mr. Shihundu says. At a basic level, TORUS generates initial roundabout geometry honouring reference criteria and provides real-time feedback for recommended dimensional and analytical ranges. The software has a section for design guidelines that features several Austroads roundabout guidelines, including the Austroads single-lane roundabout (50 kilometres per hour) and Austroads two-lane entry (50 kilometres per hour). “TORUS uses the design methodology
